St. Croix

Today, I left the camera behind for the boat dives in the morning saving the batteries for a pier dive afterward ... went looking for frogfish and seahorses with Doreen.

 

We did find a small, black frogfish ... but he was in like 2 feet of water and the current made a photograph impossible ... too bad - he was cute.

 

One more day of diving tomorrow, then back to Babylon ...

Wow, great job. I still have never gotten photos or video of seashorses (a bit of not good video) have only seen them a couple of times...

Great shots Jeremy!

Well Marjo, we had fun but you didn't really miss a traditional 'great pier' dive. First there were 2 large groups getting in b4 us, jeezh if we'd only been a little earlier. Then even though the surface chop and current was terrible I really wanted to snorkel, and we did, almost to the end to better the seahorse shot opportunity. On the way out I only spot checked favorate spots quickly for frog fish since it was so rough and hard to stay away from banging into the pier columns given the current. Besides, we were on a seahorse pic mission. So finally we reach the end, hide from the current behind some columns to rest a few moments and then drop down only to find it wasn't just a surface current but instead was still strong and we would have to dive at a 45 degree angle all the way in. LOL. It ranks in the top 2 worse currents at the pier that I've experienced. Of course after building up Jeremy's expectations, my spotting wasn't what I was hoping. Many creatures were missing from their favorite spots. We did manage a few seahorses, sting ray and cute octopus inking encounter. I always enjoy the pier but have to say this was a bit of work today. We laughed afterward when Jeremy noted that the current diving in from the end of the pier was stronger than the current we had for our drift dive off the boat earlier that day. Hope you'll forgive me Jeremy!

Hope you'll forgive me Jeremy!

Oh my goodness, forgive you? Don't be silly - it was great ... work, for sure ... but so totally worth it. I just wish I could have saved some more strength for a last assault on the old dolphin! By the time we surfaced, I was ready to surrender to the current. We fought it going out on the surface ... we fought it coming back underwater ... it was almost 2 hours of swimming against a very strong current. I'm wiped! ... but ready for more tomorrow!

Batteries are all charged up ... now time for me to do the same! See you in the AM!

Jeremy, look at it this way: after all this commando-diving, you are allowed to eat ANYTHING at the resort, plus you'll come back from vacation in even better shape! Looking out over the ocean from my hill itblooks like you are going to have a gorgeous day with sunshine and calm seas. Enjoy!

Jeremy, look at it this way: after all this commando-diving, you are allowed to eat ANYTHING at the resort

Oh, believe me ... I have!

Looking out over the ocean from my hill itblooks like you are going to have a gorgeous day with sunshine and calm seas. Enjoy!

It was another beautiful day of diving today with Doreen and the good people of N2Blue ... we did 'Armageddon' - a cool site made up of ruble from the old pier destroyed in 1989 dropped in about 75-90 feet. Weird landscape of girders, old tires, concrete platforms, etc. I would love to come back and shoot it with the 17-35. I left the camera on deck.

Second (and last of the week) dive was 'Aquarium' ... and we stayed down almost 80 minutes to get every last drop ... here's a few pics from the dive:

... and this one is actually from yesterday ... I like this one ... I only wish the focus and DOF were better ...

Sadly, I fly back to NYC tomorrow ... it was a blast.

Hats off to St. Croix - it was GREAT!

HUGE thanks to Marjo, Doreen, N2Blue and Cane Bay Diving for helping making this a TERRIFIC trip.

I'll definitely be back.

Congrats Jeremy,

Glad you had a good trip. I'm looking now at the huge pile of stuff that I'm hauling to Florida for a couple of weeks of diving and I must tell you I'm very jealous. You may have discovered the secret to packing light, just have great friends and borrow a camera and housing and ......., I'm not sure if that is absolutely kosher though. You miss all the fun of lugging the gear through airports.

Love the shot of the eggs!

Safe travels,

Steve

Love the xmas tree worms and the Sergant major eggs! Looks like you got a hang of that rig too!

Awesome that you got to go to Armageddon. One of my fav sites, such a surreal place. Like diving in a lost city, everything there is super sized, and the "big guys" like hanging there. So glad that you got to come hang out here on our little island (and at the Buccaneer!), because this is a little bit of a "secret" spot - since St. Thomas gets all the media focus. All the good diving is here, but we don't have those cruise ships and t-shirt shops and all that hoopla. Maybe it is best to keep it that way...

Congrats Jeremy,

Glad you had a good trip. I'm looking now at the huge pile of stuff that I'm hauling to Florida for a couple of weeks of diving and I must tell you I'm very jealous. You may have discovered the secret to packing light, just have great friends and borrow a camera and housing and ......., I'm not sure if that is absolutely kosher though. You miss all the fun of lugging the gear through airports.

Thanks, Steve ... I wish it were so ... I tried to arrange for exactly that - a camera down here waiting for me ... but ended up borrowing one from someone in NY and lugging it with me.

Another option - one which I may try at some point - is to ship the stuff ahead of the trip and ship it back at the end ... I've done that with regular bags before, but never gear. That may become more and more attractive as the baggage charges on the plane really start to pile up. But we did good on this trip ... family of four, one idiot diver with dive junk and a full u/w camera setup + SLR bag with tripod and lenses for topside - all in two 50lb bags with two 35lb carry-ons.

Love the shot of the eggs!

Safe travels,

Steve

My new obsession ... eggs ... I have been hooked on Christmas Trees for years, but eggs are my new thing.

Have a great trip to Florida and say hi to Flipper! ... one of his buddies sneaked up on me yesterday and squeaked quite loud, but vanished before I saw it. There's a global dolphin conspiracy ... when I go diving, they do exactly that ... come nearby, make noise and disappear before I can catch a glimpse. You are smart to work with the "union" crew.

Love the xmas tree worms and the Sergant major eggs! Looks like you got a hang of that rig too!

 

Awesome that you got to go to Armageddon. One of my fav sites, such a surreal place. Like diving in a lost city, everything there is super sized, and the "big guys" like hanging there. So glad that you got to come hang out here on our little island (and at the Buccaneer!), because this is a little bit of a "secret" spot - since St. Thomas gets all the media focus. All the good diving is here, but we don't have those cruise ships and t-shirt shops and all that hoopla. Maybe it is best to keep it that way...

Shhhh ...

Keep it nice and quiet!

Thanks again and see you next time for sure!

More terrific pictures Jeremy! It was great diving with you and hope you and family have a safe trip home today.

If you want to ship gear ahead of a trip here and need an address feel free to get in touch. Marjo can jump in with her thoughts but I'd suggest USPS priority (insured and tracked of course) and leave yourself 10 days of time. My priority mail usually arrives within 5 days (Marjo have you ever had it arrive in 3?) but I've also had it take longer.

I'm back in the water today, I know it is a tough life but someone has to live it. I too vote to keep STX a secret, only between us and the thousands of wetpixel readers, LOL.

Cheers to all those members reading this and if you make it to St Croix I hope meet you!

Yes, incidentally I had two "3 day priority" shipments in the last two weeks - both from B&H in NY. I agree that USPS is the best option when shipping anything down here. If anyone is on their way here and considering whipping something down n advance, just contact me here and I will be happy to help (with that or any other arrangements).

As for keeping STX a secret.. this is a bit off the "photo" subject, but still relevant, and it feels very important to me. It is is one of those issues that I ponder a lot. Ours is one of the few islands in the Caribbean that is still "real", we still have untouched wilderness, comparatively healthy reefs (this I could go on and on about shifting baselines...), and we lack touts and other hassles that come with mass tourism. On one hand, I of course very much wish for economic propsperity for everyone on the island, but on the other hand having seen what has happened to so many of the destinations in the Caribbean (and elsewhere as well), I wish we could keep mass tourism away (and of course I like our uncrowded beaches and reefs) My personal preference would be if we could attract divers and other visitors who have an appreciation for the environment and environmental issues. Visitors who would stay on island in our hotels, patronize our restaurants and local tour and dive operators and other businesses. People who wuld stay at least for a few days and make a connection with the island. I saddens me to see people put their hopes on a future of masstourism and especially cruiseship tourism - which brings lots of visitors but the stays are short, the visitors have their meals on the ship and of course there is no hotel nights generated from these visitors etc All of this is just my opinion and does not reflect thd opinion of any person or business that I work or am involved with. So to me, the best kind of visitor would be just divers, underwater photographers, people with a love of the oceans and people who have an involvement in forums, groups and organizations that encourage ecological awareness. Like Wetpixel. This is why I am so thrilled whenever someone I have met here comes to visit here and it truly a joy to be given the opportiunity to share some of "our secret paradise" and try to help make it a good experience.